Connected Souls
by AKBCardfightFan998
Summary: When two souls connect with each other, they have a deep bond engraved deep inside them. With their worlds at stake, what risks are they willing to go through? DISCLAIMER! I don't own CFV and SAO
1. Chapter 1

Hi everyone! I'm presenting to you a new story! I hope everyone will enjoy this new story! Without further ado... Let's start!

Normal POV

It was late into the night as Aichi stretched and yawned after typing a few more data into his computer. Deciding to take a quick nap, he laid his head down on the table and rested. A few minutes later, Ibuki entered with two cups of coffee and sighed after seeing Aichi sleeping. He then took a blanket and covered him with it before turning over to the computer to see a video chat trying to connect. Ibuki then connected the call and took the computer aside.

" Sendou's sleeping. What is it?" Ibuki ask

" He's pulling all-nighters again? I told him not to exhaust himself already." Kai said

" He does want to put a stop to this chaos soon, after all. With our experiences, we know how much we want this to end too." Ibuki said

" ... Yeah. Well, we found the Relics generator at our end. We'll head in once we're ready." Kai said

" Be patient. I'll give you guys the signal once this side is ready too." Ibuki said

" I know."

A pained groan was then heard as Ibuki turned to Aichi to see him shivering while groaning in his sleep.

" Ibuki?"

" Sendou?" Ibuki wondered

He then walked over to Aichi as he set the computer down and tried to shake him awake.

" Wake up, Sendou." Ibuki called

" What's going on, Ibuki?" Kai ask

" Must be a nightmare. Sendou. Hurry up and wake up." Ibuki called

Aichi's eyes then snapped open as he gasped and shot up. He looked around and took in his surroundings before calming down and sighing in relief.

" Did something happen?" Ibuki ask

" ... Oh, Ibuki-san..." Aichi muttered as he looked down to see his hands shaking, " ... No, it's nothing..."

" Hold on, I'll get you some water." Ibuki said as he left the room

" Aichi."

Aichi jumped a little as soon as he heard Kai's voice.

" K-Kai-kun..."

" You know I hate it when you always hide something from us. What did you see?" Kai ask

" ... It's nothing related to this war... It was just a nightmare, a bad dream..." Aichi replied

" Is that really the truth?" Kai ask

" ... I have to get back to work... I'm sorry, Kai-kun... We'll have a better chat next time..." Aichi said

Aichi then reached his hand out to turn the computer off when he suddenly collapsed onto the ground.

" Aichi!"

Ibuki entered the room again when it happened as he rushed over to Aichi and tried to shake him awake.

" Sendou! Hey, Sendou!" Ibuki exclaimed

* * *

Meanwhile, the Apostles were in a mansion sitting together in the living room as Gastille sipped his coffee.

" Have you heard of a project that some certain humans are undertaking right now?" Gastille ask

" A project?" Valeos ask

" From this vessel's memory, he somehow came across this project called 'Project Alicization'. It uses a device to copy a human's soul into data and then they would try to turn those artificial souls into devices for war." Gastille said

" Is that even possible?" Dumjid ask

" It's an undergoing test. We don't know for sure yet. But one of their program called 'A.L.I.C.E' seems to be a success inside their artificial world. I'm sure this 'A.L.I.C.E' would be useful to us. Just before he had quit doing this, he overheard that 'A.L.I.C.E' seems to have made a connection to someone in this world somehow. That was around the time I would diffride him. If we find that person related to 'A.L.I.C.E'... we might be able to try to copy that program and add its power to our army." Gastille explained

" But we don't have the data for that." Darkface said

" ... Look for the Ocean Turtle and hack into their system. Find out how it is used and what the data for 'A.L.I.C.E' is like. We should be able to find the person she made a connection with." Gastille said

" Yes!"

* * *

The next day, their operation to invade the Relics was about to start as they got themselves ready.

" Everyone, head for the generators and destroy them. If you do that, Relics will be destroyed and we can rescue those children trapped inside." Ren said

" Yeah!"

" Ren. How's Aichi doing?" Kai ask

" ... Sleeping like a baby. Nothing is waking him up. Don't worry, he's in good hands. Just focus on the current situation." Ren said

" ... I see."

Kai then hung the call up as Ibuki sighed after reaching his destination.

" Kai will be mad at you for lying." Ibuki said

" You just concentrate on your situation too. Let's leave this up to Chris-kun." Ren said

" Yeah."

Ibuki then hung his call up as Ren looked over to Chris's hologram.

" How is it going?" Ren ask

" I found the source of where that thing came from. I'm hacking into its system right now to talk to the admin about it. Give me some time." Chris said

" Okay!"

* * *

In the Ocean Turtle, Higa received an alert about a mysterious call as he turned to Kikuoka.

" Kiku-san. It seems like an urgent call from someone outside our forces. What should we do?" Higa ask

" ... Answer it." Kikuoka said

Higa nodded and answered the call as Chris showed up on screen.

" I know this is sudden and I'm not trying to be rude, but are you guys the ones in charge of something called 'A.L.I.C.E'?" Chris ask

" How do you know that name?" Kikuoka ask

" A friend of mine seems to be reacting to it. That name appeared on the side on his neck. From my research, it's a data but that doesn't make any sense. How can data be connected to a human when we don't even know each other?" Chris ask

" Oh... So your friend is holding a part of Alice's Fluctlight... Now we know who it was. Alice is an artificial soul living in our virtual reality world as a human. By now, she should've been taken to the Cathedral for her crime in that world. Your friend would frequently see her world from her eyes. Their souls resonated the most with each other, even though they are two different beings. Goes to show how strong souls are, artificial or not." Higa said

" Artificial souls?" Chris ask

" We copied souls and put them into our virtual reality world to see how they would live and thrive. Well, I shouldn't say too much for now. Take good care of your friend. Their souls are greatly resonated, so we wouldn't want anyone to find out about this project. We'll keep in contact if anything happens." Higa explained

" ... Can I trust you?" Chris ask

" Of course."

" I understand, but the situation at our side isn't that good either. You should look outside for once to see what's going on. Our friend is trying to save this world, so we hope that you don't wrap him up into your mess or project." Chris said as he hung the call up

" ... Is this world in trouble?" Higa ask

" I wouldn't know. What's most important right now is the project. Let's hope that no other people find out about this." Higa said

" Yeah..."

* * *

A few hours later, Relics was finally destroyed as the others cheered. Ren walked out of the room and entered another room where Aichi was resting in.

" Hey there, Aichi-kun. Chrono-kun and the others have been successfully rescued. You don't have to worry anymore." Ren said

" I'm sorry... I couldn't help at all..." Aichi said

" You had a reason. Everyone understands. Are you still having those nightmares?" Ren ask

" No... Not yet... But everything about those nightmares feel so real... Did Chris-kun find out anything about this 'Alice'?" Aichi ask

" Not much, but she's an important program, that's all. It's also probably because Alice herself is an artificial soul." Ren said

" Artificial soul...?" Aichi muttered

" She's a living being. But her soul, or what those guys called a Fluctlight, is part of a virtual reality. She's living in a completely different world than ours. Those must be the nightmares you've been seeing. You and Alice are connected, maybe because your souls are very similar to each other. Kind and gentle would be what I assume she is like." Ren said

" Oh... No wonder my nightmares felt so real... I'm seeing what she's seeing... I wonder if she sees what I see too..." Aichi said

" I'm sure she could be, wherever she could be existing in. I find this amazing. An artificial soul that can connect with a real human soul, I mean." Ren said

" ... Yeah..."

Aichi then moved a hand up to his neck to brush on the mark that had appeared on it not to long ago that wrote 'A.L.I.C.E'.

" I wonder if she's alright though... My last nightmare was her accidentally letting her fingers cross over to something they called the 'Dark Territory'... And then she was taken away by a crimson knight on a dragon..." Aichi said

" Just crossing a border with her fingers is a taboo? That must be a rough world she's living in." Ren said

" The time there is way faster than ours... While we're talking here, I'm guessing her world has accelerated by a few years at least..." Aichi said

" What a surprise." Ren said

" Yeah..."

" ... She's going to be just fine. You two are still connected if that mark is still there. You should rest up for now. Our real battle with the Apostles is just beginning. You do want to help too, right?" Ren ask

" Yeah, you're right..." Aichi said

Aichi laid his head down on the pillow and smiled a little.

" If I go back to sleep, I can see what Alice sees again... Her world was so beautiful..." Aichi muttered

" Yeah, I'm sure it was." Ren said

Aichi nodded as he soon drifted off to sleep and Ren exited the room to see Ibuki, having returned from his mission.

" You've done well today!" Ren said

" How's Sendou doing?" Ibuki ask

" He went back to sleep after telling me about his nightmares. It seems it isn't as bad as we think it is. It was just an artificial soul resonating with Aichi-kun's soul." Ren said

" Is that even possible? And what's an artificial soul?" Ibuki ask

" The company Chris contacted said that it's a copied soul that is put into a virtual reality world. The nightmares Aichi-kun kept seeing is through that artificial soul's eyes. He talked about how that world's time is much faster than ours and how it was so beautiful too." Ren said

" I see. Kai called me just now to ask again but I was still on the way back." Ibuki said

" He's such a worrywart. Well, we are talking about Aichi-kun after all." Ren said

" Yeah. Let's get some rest too. We'll lock this place up for the night and let Sendou stay over." Ibuki said

" Yeah!"

Ibuki and Ren exited the place as Ibuki locked the gates and they left the premises. Just a few minutes later, a car pulled over as Darkface, Valeos, Gredora and Chaos Breaker came out of it.

" Why am I following you guys too?" Chaos Breaker ask

" To keep a lookout. We have to get 'A.L.I.C.E' as quickly and quietly as possible." Valeos said

" Still, what a place to be at. Those humans won't know what is coming for them. To think that the human 'A.L.I.C.E' is connected to would be related to them." Gredora said

" Let's make this quick." Valeos said

Darkface hacked into the surveillance cameras nearby the entrance as Valeos forced the door open and they ran into the building. Meanwhile, inside his room, Aichi woke up to someone calling his name as he got up.

" Who's there?" Aichi ask

_" Hurry and hide! They're coming!"_ The small voice exclaimed

" ... Alice...? Is that you...?" Aichi ask as he stood up from the bed

However, the room was dark as Aichi accidentally hit the bedside table and fell to the floor, shrieking in surprised as he fell.

" Hey, I heard something coming from there." A voice said

Aichi gasped silently as soon as he heard the voice, recognizing immediately that it was Noa's but with Chaos Breaker speaking through it.

" Why are they here...?!" Aichi exclaimed softly as he tried to stand up again

Aichi then winced as he felt a jolt of pain from his foot, where he had hit the table, as the footsteps came closer to the room.

_" Hide!" _The small voice exclaimed again

Aichi hurriedly hid under the bed as he held his breath while the door slowly opened and the footsteps entered the room and started looking around. That was when he heard hurried footsteps running into the room and familiar voices.

" Hey! What are you doing here?!" The voice exclaimed

" Crap, this wasn't part of the plan." Chaos Breaker said

" Get out of here before we make you!" Another voice exclaimed

" ... Let's go. We'll come back another time. It's not time for us to fight them yet." Valeos said

The footsteps cleared out of the room as some came back a few minutes later.

" Aichi!"

" Brother Aichi!"

" Are you okay, Sendou?!" Another voice shouted

" Everyone...!" Aichi exclaimed

Aichi crawled out of his hiding spot just as the lights flickered on as Kamui screamed in surprise before quickly realizing that it was Aichi.

" Brother! You're safe!" Kamui exclaimed

" Yeah...!"

" We came back as fast as we could once we finished up what we needed to do, but we'll have to return for Arata and Makoto since Kai will drop them off at Hong Kong with us." Misaki said

" And when we came here to visit you with Ibuki, we saw the door had been forced open and ran in immediately! Thank god you're okay!" Kamui exclaimed

" I was surprised... But Alice woke me up and asked me hide..." Aichi said

" Alice...? Who's that?" Kamui ask

" Sendou, sit down first." Ibuki said as they pulled Aichi up and sat him on the bed while he winced, " Your foot is injured."

" Y-Yeah... I panicked and hit it on the table..." Aichi said

" Hold on. I'll go get the first aid kit." Ibuki said as he got up and exited the room

" Why were they here though?" Misaki ask

" I don't know... All I know was that they sounded like they were searching for something..." Aichi replied

" Searching for something? Do we have something that they need in here?" Kamui wondered

" Sendou. Could it be that?" Ibuki ask as he entered with the first aid kit

" 'That'?"

Ibuki signaled to his neck as Aichi covered his neck and brushed a finger along the mark.

" It couldn't be... I mean, they wouldn't know about this..." Aichi said

" We can't be sure what their hosts were doing before the Diffride. Just be careful." Ibuki said as he applied some ointment on Aichi's foot

Misaki then moved Aichi's hand away from his neck and pulled his collar down a little to see the mark and her eyes widened.

" What's going on?" Misaki ask

" It's a long story. Let's have Sendou rest first before we head outside to talk." Ibuki said

As soon as he finished bandaging Aichi's foot, he laid him back down on the bed and turned the lights off. The three then exited the room as Ibuki closed the door behind him and they made their way to the meeting room.

" Ibuki! Give us an explanation before we head off!" Kamui exclaimed

" It's a complicated situation. Between me, Chris, Suzugamori and Sendou, we were told to not mention this to anyone." Ibuki said

" But this is about Brother's safety! If the Apostles are really after him, why?!" Kamui ask

" That's the problem. We don't know the truth about that thing on his neck! Those people we contacted and who knows that thing, they won't tell us a single thing!" Ibuki exclaimed

" What do you mean?!" Kamui exclaimed

" Sendou's soul is resonating with an artificial Fluctlight." Ibuki said

" Fluctlight?" Misaki ask

" In simpler terms, it's an artificial human soul copied into a virtual reality. That soul and Sendou's soul are resonating with each other. Both of them are connected." Ibuki replied

" Human soul copied into virtual reality?! What purpose do they have with that?!" Kamui exclaimed

" I don't know and I don't want to think about it either. All I know is that that mark on Sendou's neck is an important program to that company. And if it's that important, I'm sure that might be why the Apostles are here. One of their vessels know about this project, they know about someone having a connection to that Fluctlight, but they didn't know it was Sendou. They must have data that brought them here." Ibuki said

" Then Brother..." Kamui exclaimed

" You guys have to go back to Hong Kong soon to settle matters on your side. I'll inform Kai about it. I understand your concerns, but this is also why we have to put a stop to the Apostles as fast as possible." Ibuki said

" ... I understand. We'll leave Aichi to you guys here. The same goes for those children who were saved from the Relics." Misaki said

" Yeah."

Ibuki sent Kamui and Misaki off before returning to the base as he slept in a room beside Aichi's.

* * *

And that's the end of this chapter! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! Thank you for reading anf I'll see everyone in the next chapter!


	2. Chapter 2

Hi everyone! I'm presenting to you a new chapter! Chapter 2! I hope everyone will enjoy this new chapter! Without further ado... Let's start!

Normal POV

The next morning, Ibuki brought a tray of breakfast to Aichi's room and knocked on it. Upon hearing Aichi's response, he opened the door and entered the room.

" What are you doing?" Ibuki ask

" You wouldn't let me go outside or help and it's boring." Aichi said

" That's why you're drawing?" Ibuki ask, setting the tray on the bedside table

" More or less. I couldn't forget that world no matter how much I tried to. So I thought of trying to draw it out." Aichi said

Ibuki then looked over to the drawing as he blinked.

" What's this? An ice cave?" Ibuki ask

" It's the End Mountains. This place is where Alice had accidentally broken a taboo index. That dark entrance at the side is the place her fingers accidentally crossed. If it didn't happen, she would've still been a normal girl with her two childhood friends." Aichi said

" So what is she up to now?" Ibuki ask

" Studying in the Centoria Cathedral... I don't like that place as much as she does." Aichi said

" Why?"

" There's a weird clown like person there... Alice was crying and begging him to not do anything to her memories before they took her in as a Sister-in-training. Two years have already passed in that world..." Aichi said

" It's been only one night here. Just how much has time been accelerated in that world...?" Ibuki said

" I don't know. But even now, Alice has been working hard to study, hoping she can return home one day." Aichi said

" I see."

Suddenly, Aichi winced as he clenched his head and groaned in pain.

" Sendou?!"

" My head... It feels like someone is trying to forcefully pry my mind open...!" Aichi exclaimed

" It's just your imagination. Lie down and rest." Ibuki said as he laid Aichi down on the pillow

" ... Alice... Please be okay..." Aichi muttered

" She's going to be just fine." Ibuki assured

After a few minutes, the pain faded away as Aichi opened his eyes again to wipe a few stray tears away.

" That pain wasn't normal... It wasn't directly affecting me, but I could feel the pain... Something must have happened to Alice..." Aichi muttered

" Sendou, you should rest for now. I'll wrap your breakfast up and let you eat once you feel better." Ibuki said as he took the tray and left the room

As soon as he closed the door, he heard hurried footsteps as he inwardly sighed.

" Let him rest. Let's go to the meeting room to talk." Ibuki whispered

Once Ibuki had finished wrapping up Aichi's breakfast and set it aside in the kitchen, he sat down on the chair in the meeting room and looked at the person who had just appeared.

" Shouldn't you be in Europe, Kai?" Ibuki ask

" Kamui and Tokura told me everything. I couldn't leave him like that." Kai said

" What about Gaillard and Neve? Were they okay with you coming back?" Ibuki ask

" Yeah. If Aichi is in danger, then one more person coming back to help shouldn't be a problem." Kai said

" ... I understand."

Ibuki then turned on the hologram to contact Chris as he turned to them.

" Oh, Ibuki. I got your email. That company is willing to talk to us about the truth." Chris said

" When?" Ibuki ask

" In another few hours. They said they were busy with something for now." Chris said

" I see. Contact us the moment you get into contact with them again." Ibuki said

" Yeah."

Chris hung the call up as the hologram turned off and Ibuki sighed while pinching the bridge of his nose.

" Now do you understand? We won't ever know what's going on until those guys are ready to tell us. You can go and see Sendou but don't interrupt his sleep." Ibuki said

Kai nodded and headed to Aichi's room. He opened the door and entered just as Aichi started flinching and panted heavily.

" Alice... No...! Don't...!" Aichi exclaimed as he reached his hand out

" Aichi...!"

Kai ran over to Aichi as he quickly shot up from the bed and gasped. Kai held onto his shaking hand while Aichi took a few panicked breaths before calming down and looked around.

" I'm back again..." Aichi muttered

" Are you okay?" Kai ask

" ... Kai... kun...?"

" Yeah, it's me." Kai said

" When did you come home...?" Aichi ask

" Awhile ago. I came to see you. Tokura and Kamui told me everything. How are you feeling? Did you have a nightmare again?" Kai said

" Y-Yeah, but I'm fine now..." Aichi replied

" You sounded like you were having a bad nightmare though." Kai said

" ... Alice... Her memories were sealed away... And she was forced to become a Knight of the Axiom Church... They fed her with lies about her being a knight sent from Heaven..." Aichi muttered

" ... Are you hungry? Ibuki kept your breakfast for you in the kitchen. I'll go get it for you." Kai said

Kai let go of his hand and went to the kitchen to get Aichi's breakfast. However, as soon as he walked back into his room, Aichi was missing as he set the tray down and looked around the room. He ran into the meeting room in panic as Ibuki turned to him.

" What's wrong?" Ibuki ask

" Aichi's gone!" Kai exclaimed

" What?!"

Ibuki checked the cameras and found a footage of Aichi leaving his room as they ran towards the general direction he had went to. The door to the garden opened as both soon sighed in relief after seeing Aichi under a tree, looking up at it.

" Sendou! You worried us!" Ibuki exclaimed

" I'm sorry... I saw it outside my window and couldn't help it... I wanted to see it up close..." Aichi said

" The flowers and leaves already wilted away since it's the winter season. I don't see anything on it." Ibuki said

" I know... But it looks similar..." Aichi said

" Similar?"

" To the osmanthus tree that Alice loves..." Aichi said

" Look, you... Don't do that again." Kai said

" I'm sorry..."

Aichi then got up as the tree started glowing when his hand touched it.

" What?!"

The leaves and flowers then bloomed as Aichi smiled while the flower petals fell around him.

" No way..." Ibuki exclaimed

" Wow... It looks just like the tree..." Aichi said

" ... You can continue to admire it inside your room. Your ankle is still hurt, so you need to rest it. Don't walk out of the room without our permission again." Kai said

" Okay..."

Kai went over to Aichi and helped him back to his room while glancing over to Ibuki after passing by him. Ibuki sighed and looked up at the tree before making his way back into the office.

* * *

Meanwhile, Kai sat Aichi back on the bed and brought his breakfast to him, letting him hold the bowl.

" Here. Eat as much as you want." Kai said

" Thank you..."

" I'll change your bandages in the meantime." Kai said

" Okay..."

Aichi then took his injured ankle out from the blanket as Kai unwrapped the bandage and started applying medicine to it before wrapping it up in bandages again.

" That should do. Do you still feel unwell anywhere?" Kai ask

" No... I'm feeling much better..." Aichi replied

" I see. Don't worry about Alice too much. I'm sure she'll be fine." Kai said

" Yeah..."

Aichi quickly finished his meal as Kai set the empty plates aside while Aichi went back to drawing.

" ... Is that Alice's home?" Kai ask

" No... It's inside the cathedral... Now that she had been forcefully made into an Integrity Knight, this is her new room... All while thinking that she's actually a knight sent from Heaven..." Aichi explained

" It looks like a good place though. What's so bad about it?" Kai ask

" ... To have all of your precious memories of your previous life taken away from you and then turning into a puppet that only fights with little to no emotion... That's just wrong..." Aichi said

" ... I see. But she's just a program, right?" Kai ask

" Alice isn't just a program...! She's a living being like all of us... A human...! Other people might think that it doesn't matter since everything is just a code, but to me, everyone who's living in the Underworld are all humans... From the way they speak and their actions, those aren't just things that mere data can replicate... They're real..." Aichi said

" ... Alright, I understand. Take a good rest for now. I'll wake you up once it's time for lunch." Kai said

Aichi shook his head before continuing to draw. Kai sighed as he stood up and looked out the window before exiting the room, giving Aichi some private time. He entered the meeting room to see that Ibuki was talking to Chris.

" So, we can talk to them now?" Ibuki ask

" Yeah. I'll connect them to this line too." Chris said as he typed something in and a screen popped up, " This person is Takeru Higa. The one beside him is Kikuoka Seijirou."

" You two are the ones in charge of A.L.I.C.E?" Ibuki ask

" Yeah. It just so happens that we have guests here as well. This is Rinko Kojiro and Asuna Yuuki. They are also here for an explanation." Kikuoka said

" Is Kirito-kun safe? Were you lying when you said you could treat him? Please answer me, Kikuoka-san!" Asuna exclaimed

" Because of the attack by the fugitive from the Death Gun incident, Kirito-kun's brain sustained damage that modern medicine is unable to heal. However... Rath is the only place in the world that has the technology to treat him. I'm sure you've heard of it. The STL... The Soul Translator. If we use the STL to directly stimulate his Fluctlight, we can induce the generation of a new neural network. But it takes time. Right now, Kirito-kun is in a full-spec STL, which can only be found here. The treatment he's getting rivals that of any major hospital. He even has his own personal nurse." Kikuoka explained

" I understand. I'll believe you for now." Asuna said

" Alright, if we've come this far, why don't you just tell us everything, Kikuoka-san. Such as why an SDF officer like you would use the Ministry as a front, what are you plotting here, and why you needed Kirigaya-kun?" Rinko ask

" If you're asking that, I'm going to have you help me." Kikuoka said

" I'll decide after I hear your answer." Rinko said

" Well, then, may I assume you're both familiar with the concept of the STL? ... You guys should listen as well." Kikuoka said

" It's a machine that reads a human soul, their Fluctlight, and allows them to dive into a virtual world indistinguishable from reality." Asuna said

" It's the same as what Aichi says." Kai said

" Yeah."

" Correct. But I don't think you know what this project's objective is." Kikuoka said

" Objective?"

" To create a bottom-up multi-purpose artificial intelligence." Kikuoka said

" A bottom-up multi-purpose artificial intelligence?" Asuna repeated

" There are two approaches to developing artificial intelligence. One is top-down. Wherein you programme the artificial intelligence with experience and knowledge, so that in the end it will learn to replicate true intelligence." Kikuoka said

" Including the research of Dr. Shigemura, who'd been working with us here, almost everything considered an artificial intelligence right now uses the top-down approach." Higa explained

" But a top-down type can't react appropriately to anything it hasn't learned about. In other words, at this time they haven't evolved enough to be called true intelligence. Next, bottom-up artificial intelligence. This is the human brain. It involves artificially replicating the construct of a biological organ comprised of one hundred billion linked brain cells, and generating intelligence there." Kikuoka explained

" Something like that... is it even possible...?" Ibuki exclaimed

" Until now, it was thought to be impossible. But the Soul Translator can scan a human soul, the quantum field we call the Fluctlight." Kikuoka said

" And to store almost the same amount of data as a human brain, we've developed the Light Quantum Gate Crystal, aka the Lightcube, as a medium." Higa said

" Which means it can be used to copy a Fluctlight?" Rinko ask

" Correct. We have, in fact, succeeded in replicating the human soul." Kikuoka said

" Then why did you need to summon me at this point?" Rinko ask

" Because, foolishly enough, we'd missed something. The fact that an unbelievably vast and deep chasm exists between a copy of the human soul and a true artificial intelligence. Higa. Show them 'that'." Kikuoka said

" Huh? We're doing that again?" Higa said as he sighed and booted something up

" ... Is the sampling done?" A voice ask

" That's..." Kai exclaimed

" Yeah. Everything is completed with no problems." Higa replied

" Glad to hear it. But it's pitch-black, and I can't move my body. Is this a glitch with the STL? Sorry, but can you let me out of the machine?" The voice ask

" Unfortunately, but I can't do that." Higa said

" Hey, what the hell? What are you talking about? Who are you? Your voice doesn't sound familiar." The voice ask

" I'm Higa. Takeru Higa." Higa said

" ... No way! What do you mean? I'm Higa! You'll know once I get out of the STL!" The voice exclaimed

" Calm down. Don't get worked up. That's not like you. You may be a copy, but you're Takeru Higa. You calmly accept situations-" Higa said but was quickly cut off

" I'm the same as ever! If I'm a copy, then I should feel like one! This... This isn't... No! Let me out of here! Let me out of this thing!" The voice exclaimed

" You need to calm down. You're aware of the danger to your Fluctlight if you lose the capacity for rational thought." Kikuoka said

" I am being rational! Alright, then why don't I race that imposter there by reciting the digits of pi? 3.14159265358..." The voice said before static took over and the screen turned black as Higa sighed

" And he's collapsed. One minute, eight seconds." Higa said

" That was some bad taste to start this conversation." Chris said

" I apologize for that. But now you see why I could only explain it by showing you. Including myself, we've copied the Fluctlights of over ten people, and not a single one could bear the thought of being a copy. If full copies are out of the question, then what should we do?" Kikuoka ask

" What should you do? ... Raise them from the start?" Rinko ask

" Could it be..." Asuna exclaimed

" That's right. Copy the souls of newborn infants and raise them." Kikuoka said

" But what kind of environment would you raise them in? You can't create an exact copy of the real world." Rinko said

" Yes, that's impossible. But we realized something. Plenty of perfect solutions already exist on the network." Kikuoka said

" VRMMO worlds." Asuna said

" You got that right. Using the Seed, we created small villages and surrounding landscapes, and converted them for STL use." Higa said

" In the very first town we created, four members of the Rath staff raised 16 soul archetypes, that is, AI infants, to the age of 18. These 16 youths grew up quickly. Although we call them artificial Fluctlights for convenience, the way they turned out was more than satisfactory. They were all very obedient and upstanding. When they were joined in marriage, we gave them babies, in other words, new soul archetypes for them to raise. And after accelerating time in their world by 5,000, there were more and more generations, and by the time 3 weeks, or 300 years in their world has elapsed, a massive society with a population 80,000 had emerged." Kikuoka said

" But at that level, that's a civilization simulation." Rinko said

" That's true, huh? At this time, 480 years have already passed in that world, and the population of the capital, Centoria, has reached 20,000." Kikuoka said

" At this time, the artificial Fluctlights have matured into the bottom-up AIs that we'd hoped for. So we were thrilled to be able to move on to the next phase. However..." Higa said

" That's when we noticed a certain major issue." Kikuoka continued

" Issue?"

" A governing body called the Axiom Church had created laws known as the Taboo Index." Kikuoka said

" Taboo Index?"

" It contained, for example, a law forbidding murder, like we have in the real world. But just by watching the news, it's clear how often humans violate that law. However, the Fluctlights obey those laws. Obey them excessively, you could say. This town is beautiful, and far too perfect. There isn't a single piece of garbage on the streets, and not a single thief. Needless to say, no murders has ever been committed." Kikuoka said

" And how is that an issue?" Rinko ask

" ... Could it be that your objective... is to create AIs capable of murder? Both Kirito-kun and I guessed that the reason for your interest in VRMMOs was because it could be applied to police work and SDF training. But... This project is far too ambitious. For an SDF officer like yourself to attempt something of this scale... What you want to do is to build AIs capable of killing enemy soldiers in battle. Isn't that the reason?" Asuna ask

" Is that true, Kikuoka-san?" Rinko ask

" ... Five years ago, when the NerveGear was announced, it struck me. This technology had the potential to upend the very notion of war. When the SAO incident occurred, I volunteered to transfer to the Ministry, and joined the task force. I did all that so I could get the project off the ground. It took me five years to finally get to this point." Kikuoka explained

" Why did you decide to take part in this project, Higa-kun?" Rinko ask

" Well, actually, my motive was a bit more personal. I was friends with this guy when I was a student at a college in Korea. And he died while serving the army. And so I thought... if this world is never rid of war, at least if people never had to die anymore, then... I know it's a pretty childish reason." Higa explained

" But you haven't spoken a word of this to Kirito-kun." Asuna said

" What makes you think that?" Kikuoka ask

" If you had talked to him about it, he never would've agreed to help you. There's one crucial point of view missing in your story." Asuna said

" And that is?" Kikuoka ask

" The rights of the artificial intelligences. These so-called artificial Fluctlights have the same cognitive abilities as humans, right?" Asuna ask

" It's not as if they have physical bodies." Kikuoka said

" But they're no different than living beings. Forcing them to kill or be killed as tools of war... Kirito-kun would never play a part in that! Never." Asuna said

" It's not like I don't understand what you're saying. But to me, the lives of 100,000 artificial intelligences are worth far less than a single SDF soldier's." Kikuoka said

" Anyway, why did you need Kirigaya-kun? Why would you use him at the risk of leaking something so highly confidential?" Rinko ask

" Oh, right. I was telling you all this to help me explain that. Why are the artificial Fluctlights unable to disobey the Taboo Index? That's when I came up with a certain experiment. If we were to block all of a real human's memories, revert them to childhood and have him grow up in the virtual world, would the subject be able to disobey the Taboo Index? To carry out this experiment, we needed a subject who was used to moving around in a virtual world. And not just a week or a month's worth, but experience amounting to years. You understand now, don't you?" Kikuoka ask

" And? There's something else you haven't told us yet." Ibuki said

" That's right. When Kirigaya-kun was doing the experiment, he had two childhood friends whom he used to play with, a boy and a girl. The one who had broken the Taboo Index back then was the girl. What she broke was 'accessing a restricted address'." Kikuoka explained

" 'Accessing a restricted address'?" Chris ask

" We confirmed a death of another Fluctlight in the girl's view in the restricted address. Most likely, she tried to help him." Higa said

" In other words, this girl prioritized someone else's life over the Taboo Index. That's precisely what we've been seeking." Kikuoka said

" What's that girl's name?" Asuna ask

" Alice."

" Alice?" Asuna repeated

" Right. That was the name of the girl in question. I was blown away by the staggering coincidence. Because 'Alice' is also the name of the concept that became the foundation of this overall project." Kikuoka explained

" Concept?"

" A highly-adaptive autonomous artificial intelligence. In English that would be Artificial Labile Intelligence Cybernated Existence. The initials form the acronym A.L.I.C.E. Our ultimate goal was to convert an artificial Fluctlight into an A.L.I.C.E.

Welcome to our Project Alicization."

* * *

And that's the end of this chapter! Thank you for reading! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and I'll see everyone in the next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

Hi everyone! I'm presenting to you a new chapter! Chapter 3! I hope everyone will enjoy this new chapter! Without further ado... Let's start!

Normal POV

Kikuoka then sighed after that as he leaned on the table.

" But we couldn't save her Fluctlight in time... By the time we noticed, two days have already passed and her Fluctlight has already been corrected by the Axiom Church. If that didn't happen, our research would've made huge advances." Kikuoka said

" Fluctlights have the authority to do that?" Chris ask

" We're not sure yet, but the church is quite mysterious after all." Higa said

" And what about the mark of A.L.I.C.E?" Ibuki ask

" For us, that's also a mystery. Why did Alice decide to do that? And in what ways were your friend and Alice similar to resonate this way? Anyway, he might be another key to helping us complete this project, so don't lose it." Kikuoka said

" That's not much of an answer!" Kai exclaimed

" Just know that both of them are connected. They feel each others' pain, emotions and memories. They see what the other sees. Maybe one day, they might be able to travel back and forth to each others' bodies. Just take care of him. Once the answer is clearer, we will chat again." Kikuoka said

" Tch!"

Kai stormed out of the room as Ibuki sighed.

" Chris, keep in contact with them. We'll inform you if there's any updates." Ibuki said

" Yeah, got it." Chris said

" If anything dangerous happens to our friend because of this, you will _not_ be hearing the last of us." Ibuki warned and turned off the call

* * *

Meanwhile, Kai went back into Aichi's room as he carefully opened the door to see that he had fallen asleep while drawing as he crept quietly into the room. He looked around to see that he had not touched his breakfast and sighed. Then, he slowly pried the drawing block out of Aichi's fingers and set the pencil down on the bedside table along with it. He took the tray for his breakfast and left it in the microwave again before moving back to Aichi's room to lay him down on the pillow while he groaned.

" Alice... Be careful..." Aichi muttered

" Another vision...?" Kai muttered

Kai then looked over to the drawing block as he took a chair and sat beside the bed while flipping through Aichi's drawings. That was when he noticed a drawing of the same tree outside the room as he compared it with the drawing.

_" It's the same... But the surroundings..."_ Kai thought

He continued flipping through the drawings as he sighed quietly and closed the book.

_" I guess everything really is true. But why were they connected to each other?"_ Kai thought

Setting the book aside, Kai got up from the chair and sat on the bed beside Aichi while brushing his hair strands aside. Slowly, he leaned forward towards him. His lips slowly brushed Aichi's before he was suddenly stopped by Aichi's hand and pushed down to the ground, knocking over the chair.

" Ow..."

" What are you doing?" Aichi ask as he got up

" ... N-Nothing... You didn't have to push so hard." Kai said as his ears flushed red after thinking back fo what he was about to do to Aichi, " Are you feeling better?"

" I'm the one asking the question here. What were you doing?" Aichi ask

" 'I'*? Are you okay, Aichi?" Kai ask

" 'Aichi'...? What nonsense are you talking about?" Aichi ask

Ibuki ran into the room after hearing the noise as Aichi had his guard up again.

" Who are you guys? How did you get into this place?" Aichi ask

" Calm down. Look, just don't get up. I'll get something for you, okay?" Ibuki ask

He slowly and carefully made his way over to a desk to get a mirror and showed it to Aichi.

" You're Aichi Sendou. A cardfighter." Ibuki said

Aichi looked at himself and his hand before looking around.

" What's the meaning of this? What's this body?" Aichi ask

" ... I knew it. You're not Sendou right now." Ibuki said

" What do you mean?" Kai ask

" Have you forgotten? That guy said that there was a possibility that they could switch bodies at some point of time. This is the result." Ibuki said

" Switch bodies? Explain this to me." Aichi said

" If I would guess, your name is Alice. Isn't that right?" Ibuki ask

" ... Yeah."

" Sendou told us a lot about you. He's been having dreams of your life and told us many things." Ibuki said

He picked up the drawing block and showed the drawing to 'Alice'.

" This is indeed the Cathedral. I can believe this story." 'Alice' said

" Then you must have also..." Ibuki said

" I have. I have been seeing dreams that never made sense to me. You were all in that dream, but I never thought it would become real." 'Alice' said

" You and Sendou are both connected because your souls resonate. You feel Sendou's pain while he feels yours as well." Ibuki said

" That's why my ankle suddenly acted up during training." 'Alice' said

" Yeah. Sendou had hurt himself by accident. We suspected that enemies had came here to capture him. And that caused him to panic and hurt himself." Ibuki said

" I see."

'Alice' then lifted up the injured ankle and a light started healing it as the two gasped.

" Hey..."

" What is it? Does your world not have healing powers?" 'Alice' ask

" N-No... Just don't do that so recklessly." Ibuki said

" That's inconvenient." 'Alice' said before coming into a realization, " ... So why..."

" Who knows..."

'Alice' then got up as the two led him around the place.

" This world is really different than mine." 'Alice' said

" Figures." Ibuki said

" Can we head outside?" 'Alice' ask

" Sure..."

The doors opened as soon as they approached it as 'Alice' noticed the tree that was standing tall and bright in the middle of a garden.

" This is..."

As soon as he touched the tree, it glowed brightly before turning into a golden sword and floated into his hands.

" My Divine Weapon. Why does it exist here?" 'Alice' ask

" Looks like it's not just your feelings, pain and souls are connected. You guys are also sharing powers with each other." Ibuki sighed

" Impossible..."

The three then headed into the meeting room where Ibuki handed 'Alice' a bag to wrap and hide the sword in.

" Soon, we'll have a meeting taking place here. Do you know what it is?" Ibuki ask

" ... According to his memories, it could be about these 'Apostles' or 'Gyze'. Is that right?" 'Alice' ask

" Yeah. Please act as accordingly to how Sendou would talk and act. We can't have more people finding out about this situation as it is." Ibuki said

" I'll keep watch over you just in case." Kai assured

" ... Must I trust someone who tried to take advantage of him while he was sleeping?" 'Alice' ask

Kai blushed a little before he waved the topic off.

" A-As if! A-Anyway, we just need to make sure that you don't screw up!" Kai exclaimed

" Huh..."

" Although, when we think about it now, will Sendou be okay with your body? I'm sure no one in your world knows about this." Ibuki said

" I'm sure Uncle will be able to help him." 'Alice' said

" Hopefully so... Sendou can be clumsy." Ibuki sighed

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Underworld, 'Aichi' sighed after a few days had passed living in Alice's body.

" I still haven't gotten used to this body and world... What should I do...? I can't keep avoiding the other Knights forever." 'Aichi' sighed

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door as she flinched and looked at it.

" Y-Yes?"

" Little girl, it's me. Can I come in?" A male voice ask

_" That voice sounds like... I think she calls him 'Uncle'..." _'Aichi' thought

" S-Sure..."

A tall man opened the door as 'Aichi' gulped a little.

_" I knew it... It's the Knight Commander, Bercouli Synthesis One..."_ 'Aichi' thought

" Is something wrong, little girl? It's unlike you to lock yourself in your room for so long." Bercouli said

" I-It's nothing, Uncle. I just wanted to have some alone time for awhile." 'Aichi' said

" ... Look here. Your acting as the little girl isn't gonna cut it if you're going to be stuck here for awhile." Bercouli said

" Huh?! Y-You knew...?" 'Aichi' ask

" Of course. Little girl always talked about a life that she has never lived before and yet, she feels like she has a connection with this person's soul. It's you, isn't you?" Bercouli ask

" ... Yes... I am Aichi Sendou... A few days ago, I woke up as Alice and I didn't know what to do. I didn't mean to do this, but I really don't know this world well." 'Aichi' explained

" It's understandable. So how different is your body and hers?" Bercouli ask

" ... Very different. I... even have difficulties just going to the bathroom. This body is her own privacy." 'Aichi' said

Bercouli then laughed out loud as 'Aichi' sighed dejectedly.

" Don't worry. I'm sure the little girl is having the same problems too." Bercouli assured

* * *

True to his words, 'Alice' had been fidgetting around while the other Branch Leaders have gathered as Kai noticed it immediately.

" What's wrong?" Kai whispered

" I-It's nothing." 'Alice' whispered

" ... Get over here." Kai whispered

Kai dragged 'Alice' out of the room and stood there with his arms crossed.

" Alright, talk. What do you need?" Kai ask

" Th... This is just too embarrassing... Using a male's body to..." 'Alice' muttered

Looking at 'Alice's' fidgets, Kai soon realised what was happening as he scratched his cheek and dragged 'Alice' to the bathroom.

" I'll stay outside. Take your time." Kai said

" I... don't know how..." 'Alice' said

Kai breathed out a heavy sigh before he took 'Alice' into the bathroom and helped him out. The two exited the bathroom with flushed cheeks after that.

" Let's never remember that. Don't mention this to anyone." Kai said

" I understand..."

" If this wasn't Aichi's body, I wouldn't be having so much trouble..." Kai muttered under his breath

The two headed back to the meeting room after that as they sat down like nothing happened. Ibuki then reviewed all of their plans again while 'Alice' tried to keep up with the information while remembering things from Aichi's memories.

" Sendou, do you have something in mind?" Ibuki ask

" ... It's almost weird. If the Apostles wanted to revive Gyze with the Zeroth Dragons, shouldn't they have one more Apostle? From what I've remembered, they don't have a United Sanctuary Apostle." 'Alice' said

" Yeah. It seems that they've tried to get an Apostle by using Diffride on Kanzaki-san. Though, we're not sure who else could qualify for that role again." Ibuki said

" Then wouldn't that put those people who uses clans from the United Sanctuary candidate for an Apostle?" 'Alice' ask

" Depending on which units that they have an incredible bond with, it's not hard to narrow them down. Kanzaki-san is still the top candidate though." Ibuki said

" I see. I guess they wouldn't try it again with him, huh?" 'Alice' muttered

" It's probably not too much of a worry for now. Though it is an issue that we should be aware of too. We need to be the ones to make the first move against them this time." Ibuki said

" Yeah!"

" By the way, Aichi... About the Relic's remnants, I might have a slight breakthrough but it'll take a little more time. Could you help me check out some of the data for me too?" Chris ask

" S-Sure... Just send them to me, I'll have a look..." 'Alice' replied

" Thanks."

The meeting adjourned afterwards as 'Alice' sighed in relief.

" Was I awkward at all?" 'Alice' ask

" Fortunately not. Looks like no one noticed. Except Suzugamori, I guess." Ibuki replied

" This world is complicated... Time even goes really slowly." 'Alice' said

" I'm not surprised. Anyway, Shindou and the others might drop by for awhile, so keep up the act for a little while longer." Ibuki said

" The 'Gyze candidate'... I guess that's fine." 'Alice' said

'Alice' then sat down and took out the sword to wipe it as Kai shrugged to Ibuki.

" Continue watching over him for me. We can't have him running around like this." Ibuki said

" I know."

As soon as 'Alice' finished inspecting and wiping the sword, he wrapped it up again before the door opened up for Chrono and his friends to enter.

" Hey, Ibuki." Chrono greeted

They all exchanged greetings before sitting down while 'Alice' nodded in greeting.

" We were discussing about our plans to keep you guys safe after rescuing you guys from Relics. We'll have close friends and people to protect you guys from the Apostles." Ibuki said

" Leave that to us!" Tokoha assured

" Please. Also, while you guys were recovering, the Apostles also dropped by here for something. We're still investigating on it-" Ibuki said while quickly glancing over to 'Alice', " -but luckily, they never took anything important."

" Was sending us to Relics not enough?" Kazuma ask

" We're not sure yet, but just be careful. Who knows when they might strike again." Ibuki said

Suddenly, 'Alice' picked up his sword and stood by the door.

" Sendou?"

" Hostile presences." 'Alice' replied

They immediately responded to that by standing up and getting ready for any attack. The door slid opened as a few figures entered. 'Alice' immediately unwrapped the sword and drew it up but was met with a clash of blades.

" Impressive. You reacted quickly." 'Alice' said

" For a light sword, it weighs heavily on impact." Valeos said

'Alice' then turned back to the others.

" Stand back." 'Alice' warned

He then parried away Valeos's sword before lifting the sword again to face him.

" What are you here for?" 'Alice' ask

" The United Sanctuary Apostle. He's still missing, so we came to diffride one." Chaos Breaker said

" Noa!"

" Heh! I brought these just in case!" Darkface said, taking out dynamites

" ... What a ruckus. No one here will be touched with me here." 'Alice' said

" Hey, be careful! Those are explosives!" Ibuki exclaimed

" Doesn't matter. As long as they can't use it, nothing will happen." 'Alice' said as he lifted up the sword, " Enhance Armament."

The blade glowed and scattered into golden flowers as they wrapped around the three Apostles.

" What is this?!" Darkface exclaimed

" This can't be...!" Chaos Breaker exclaimed

" I see...! You're...!" Valeos exclaimed

" Get out of here right now." 'Alice' said

The flowers then brought the three outside and flung them into the sky while they returned to 'Alice' and turned back into the blade.

" Those humans can survive, right?" 'Alice' ask

" You threw them into the sky... I wouldn't know..." Ibuki sighed

" At least it's safe now." Kai said

'Alice' sheathed the sword back before suddenly collapsing as they ran over to him.

" Hey!"

" Get ahold of yourself! Wake up!" Kai exclaimed

Aichi groaned as he opened his eyes and looked around.

" Huh...? I'm back...?" Aichi ask

" ... You're Sendou this time, right?" Ibuki ask

" Yes... How long was I unconscious for...?" Aichi ask

" A few hours..." Kai replied

" I see... Wai- Huh?!" Aichi exclaimed as he shot up, " A-A few hours?!"

" I don't think you knew, but Alice had taken over your body during those hours." Ibuki said

" Ah... I guess it really wasn't a dream..." Aichi muttered

" Hey. What's going on?" Chrono ask

Aichi looked over to Chrono and the others before looking at the sword beside him.

" I caused trouble, didn't I...?" Aichi ask

" Alice saved us with that sword. Don't worry about it. Though, she did blew our cover-up." Kai replied

" We're glad you're back at least. Does your body feel any different?" Ibuki ask

" Nothing to be concerned of..." Aichi said

Kai sighed as he tried to pick up the sword, only to drop it again.

" Huh?"

Kai heaved as he lifted the sword up and stood.

" How did she even carry this...?!" Kai exclaimed

" Is it heavy?" Aichi ask

" Of course it is...!" Kai exclaimed

" Let me help." Hayao said

Hayao tried to help Kai lift the sword as both collapsed from its weight.

" This isn't normal!" Hayao exclaimed

" Weird..." Aichi muttered as he took the sword into his hands, " It's pretty light for me."

" Is this a joke...?" Ibuki muttered

" Try it out yourself." Kai said

" I'll pass." Ibuki said

" Maybe it has something to do with the Authority Level or something... Although I'm not sure if it applies in our world. It shouldn't apply at least... From what I think." Aichi said

" Kai. Take him to the room for some rest. I'll explain to them." Ibuki said

" Yeah."

Kai took Aichi back to his room to rest as he settled on the bed while setting the sword beside the pillow.

" How long were you in the Underworld?" Kai ask

" A few months." Aichi replied

" Months?! Time really passes that fast over there, huh? But what did you do there?" Kai ask

" Oh... Uncle trained me and helped me act out Alice's role in the Cathedral." Aichi explained

" 'Uncle'?"

" He's the Knight Commander of the Integrity Knights, Bercouli Synthesis One." Aichi said

" The Knight Commander, huh? I guess it makes sense." Kai said

" There weren't any troubles while I was gone, right?" Aichi ask

" ... The Apostles attacked but Alice sent them away. And..." Kai trailed off as he remembered the bathroom incident

" Are you alright, Kai-kun? Your ears are red." Aichi said

" Uh... I'm sorry." Kai said

" What's wrong?" Aichi ask

" I... I had to go to the bathroom with Alice and... help her with using your body. So, I saw _it_." Kai said as he slowly turned away

" ... O-Oh... It's okay, you were just helping her because she wasn't used to this body... Besides, we're both guys so it's fine." Aichi said as he blushed

" Yeah, that's right... I mean- No! It's not fine! This is your body we're talking about!" Kai exclaimed

" I don't think it's a problem... It's not like we're..." Aichi trailed off

Kai looked around hesitantly while brushing his hair in frustration.

" K-Kai-kun?"

" ... Whatever...! Come here." Kai said

Kai pushed Aichi down on the bed before pressing his lips on Aichi's. Aichi's eyes widened before he quickly got used to it and reciprocated. The two held the kiss for a few more minutes when the door suddenly slid opened and shut quickly. The two finally snapped out of their trance and got up, embarrassed, as Aichi took the courage to open the door after straightening his clothes.

" Oh, Ibuki-san. Is something wrong?" Aichi ask

" Chrono and the others wanted to talk to you while they were here." Ibuki said

" I-I see... Come in." Aichi said

Kai had already stood up and straightened his shirt as they all came into the room to play Vanguard and have a conversation, all while Aichi and Kai were taking glances at each other.

* * *

And that's the end of this chapter! Thank you for reading! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and I'll see everyone in the next chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

Hi everyone! I'm presenting to you a new chapter! Chapter 4! I hope everyone will enjoy this new chapter! Without further ado... Let's start!

Normal POV

After some time had passed, Aichi waved goodbye to the others as Ibuki left the door half open.

" Just so you know, this is still a headquarters. Please don't make a ruckus tonight." Ibuki said

Aichi blushed as he shook his head.

" N-Nothing will happen!" Aichi exclaimed

Ibuki sighed as he closed the door, leaving Aichi and Kai in the room.

" Uh... Let's not take him too seriously..." Aichi said, blushing

" Y-Yeah..."

" ... Did you... want to say something before they came in?" Aichi ask

Kai breathed in a little as he held Aichi's hands.

" ... I love you, Aichi." Kai confessed

" Thank you, Kai-kun. I love you too." Aichi confessed

" How long?" Kai ask

" Huh?"

" How long had you had feelings for me?" Kai ask

" Hm... When we met again after Blaster Blade was taken away from me...? Although, I thought that emotion was something else." Aichi said

" For me... It was around the same time, I guess... You never ever saw me smile, but I was listening to everything you would say to me. At some point of time, I would just unconsiously start smiling." Kai said

" R-Really?"

" Miwa tease me for it a lot. You were never there to hear them though." Kai said

" I see... I have to stay here tonight. I heard that Chris-kun had new data about Relics." Aichi said

" I'll stay here with you. The Apostles came over today, and I'm not risking it again. What if they come back? Alice can't come back to protect you anymore." Kai said

" How are you so sure they're after Alice?" Aichi ask

" ... I just know. It's a gut feeling. Also, you're a user of one of the United Sanctuary clans. They might try to Diffride you too." Kai said

" Okay then. I'll be heading to the meeting room." Aichi said

" I'll bring our dinner. Your breakfast must have gone bad by now." Kai said

" Sorry. I'll eat my breakfast next time." Aichi said

" I'm surprised you never felt hungry for so long." Kai said

" I was really tired." Aichi said

" Alright. Go to the meeting room." Kai said

" Okay."

Aichi headed towards the meeting room while Kai made their dinner with whatever there was in the kitchen before bringing the dinner to the meeting room.

" Thank you, Kai-kun." Aichi thanked

" No problem. Here, have a taste." Kai said as he set the plates down

" Thank you for the food." Aichi said as he picked up his spoon and ate, " It's delicious!"

" That's good." Kai said before noticing that the sword was beside Aichi, " Did you have to bring that?"

" I couldn't just leave it in the room. I guess it became my habit after living in the Underworld for a few months." Aichi said

" Time there really passes by quickly." Kai said

" Yeah. Who knows. She might be seeing what I'm seeing right now." Aichi said

" Talk about no privacy in a different kind of way. How will we know when you two will switch bodies again?" Kai ask

" ... I don't really know... Maybe it's because we synced when we feel asleep at the same time. It's really hard to sync our sleeping hours since time passes so differently. Maybe that's the condition. Although, how we return to our own bodies is still a mystery." Aichi said

" I see..."

" Don't worry. We'll be fine." Aichi assured

" Yeah."

* * *

A few days later, they had gathered together with Chrono and the others in the meeting room as they looked at the screens with their friends shown around the world.

" For the past several days, a great quantity of information relating to the Apostles has been reported worldwide. The info ranges from locations of their bases to eyewitness sightings of their actions. Our people are out there now in order to determine the veracity of these reports, but..." Ibuki said

" It's probably a diversionary tactic. They want us to spread thin... so they can get you." Aichi said as they turned to Chrono

" It's gone for now, but it appeared then." Chrono said

" We saw it too." Taiyou confirmed

" Going by Gastille's words, the Apostles are definitely trying to turn you into a vessel for Gyze. On the other hand, if we can just protect you and send the last three Apostles back to Planet Cray, this entire affair will be over." Ibuki said

" Is there something we can do to help?" Taiyou ask

" I've gotta do more than just let myself be protected!" Chrono exclaimed

" Calm down. I know how you feel, but I want you to leave this to us. Chrono-kun, the enemy is after you." Mamoru said

" It's alright. I'm sure we'll have this whole thing wrapped up soon." Aichi assured

Chrono and the others left after that as Aichi suddenly felt a surge of pain in his right eye. He winced as he held his eye.

" Aichi?!"

" My eye just suddenly...!" Aichi winced

" Ibuki! I need to check on him!" Kai exclaimed

" Yeah."

Kai carried Aichi over to the room as he sat him down on the bed.

" Tell me. Is something happening?" Kai ask

" It's not normal... Something must be happening to Alice... My eye feels like it might burst...!" Aichi exclaimed

" Aichi!"

" ... Kai-kun..."

Seeing Aichi's outstretched hand, Kai took it and hugged him tightly. To calm him down, Kai rubbed Aichi's back while his body started to shiver in pain before everything went still and quiet.

" ... Aichi?"

Kai pulled away and looked at Aichi closely as he wiped the tears spilling out of his right eye. Aichi weakly opened his left eye as he let out a sigh.

" My right eye can't open for awhile... I think Alice wouldn't want this eye to heal so quickly either... I don't know what happened yet... But this must be the Seal of the Right Eye that Uncle told me about..." Aichi said

" 'Seal of the Right Eye'?" Kai ask

" It's a seal that prevents anyone from doubting or going against the Axiom Church... I heard it causes great pain if you have any thoughts like that... I think it was a barcode of sorts that appears in the Right Eye... I remember it was something like 'Code 871'..." Aichi said

" And a seal that keeps the rules in place so that nothing like murder will take place in the Human Empire." Kai said

" Yeah. Criminals guilty of that would be sentenced to death." Aichi said

_" That doesn't make any sense... Something like that would never exist. I mean, they want to create AIs capable of murder. With that Seal, it would be impossible. Someone like that Kikuoka would never do that... Could there be..."_ Kai thought

" Kai-kun...?"

" I-It's nothing. Do you want me to check on your eye?" Kai ask

" It's okay... It's probably just extremely swollen and red from the sudden pain... It'll heal after a day or two..." Aichi assured

Kai went to the first aid kit and took out a roll of bandage and a patch. He then wrapped the bandage around the patch on Aichi's eye and kept the rest back into the box.

" It's not much, but it'll at least keep dust or small particles away so that it can heal better." Kai said

" Thank you..."

" Get some rest. I'll inform Ibuki about your condition." Kai said

" Okay..."

Kai tucked Aichi in as he slowly fell asleep. Once Kai confirmed that he was sleeping, he stood up and headed back to the meeting room. Two hours later, a phone call came as Aichi woke up from the ringtone and answered it.

" Hello...? ... Chaos Breaker...?! Kazuma-kun is fighting him...?! I'm coming right now...!" Aichi exclaimed

Aichi got up, wincing at the pain lingering in his right eye as he quickly made his way outside while grabbing his sword. He quickly got into a car and drove off. Meanwhile, Kai went back into the room to find him missing as he ran to the meeting room again.

" Aichi's gone!" Kai exclaimed

" What?!"

" Check the security footage!" Kai exclaimed

Ibuki nodded and got out the security footage to see that Aichi had taken a car and left.

" What's that idiot doing now?!" Kai exclaimed

He tried to call Aichi as the call kept redirecting to voicemail.

* * *

Meanwhile, Aichi had quickly arrived at a construction site as he quickly made his way up. As he was ascending the stairs, he suddenly felt a stabbing pain running from his chest to his stomach as he fell to the ground.

" ... Alice...!"

_" Run! Don't go any further!" _A voice called out

" ... Is that you, Alice...?! Where are you...?!" Aichi exclaimed as he looked around

_" Look out!"_ The voice exclaimed

Aichi gasped as he saw a net coming down at him from above. Without knowing, his arm had already moved to unsheath his sword and slice the net.

" ... Wha...?"

As soon as he felt the pain in his chest residing, the voice also faded away. Aichi sheathed his sword again as he continued his way up the stairs.

" Taiyou-kun...! Kazuma-kun...!"

" Aichi-san!"

" The world will be silent!" Chaos Breaker declared as his mark glowed

The glow intensified as Stark appeared and roared. Aichi felt the floor beneath them crumbling as he quickly reached out for his sword.

" Enhance... Armament!"

When he opened his eye again, he found himself surrounded by the flowers as he went over to Taiyou.

" Taiyou-kun...!"

He looked around and saw Kazuma standing on a beam while his eyes widened at the figure above them.

" G-Gyze...?"

That was when Gyze started to try to take over Kazuma as Aichi quickly took up his sheath and directed the flowers towards Gyze to try to stop it, but the attack went through.

" No way... Kazuma-kun!" Aichi exclaimed

While his guard was down, another net fell on him as he struggled to break free.

" Got him!" Darkface exclaimed

" Just in time." Chaos Breaker said

Gyze, having taken over Kazuma's body, descended towards Aichi as the flowers returned to the sword and he sliced the net apart. From the sudden movement, his eye flared in pain again as he winced before lifting up his sword again.

" Get out of Kazuma-kun's body...!" Aichi exclaimed

Aichi stepped back just as Gyze took a step forward before turning behind him to see that he was at the edge of the building.

" Give up. There's no escape." Chaos Breaker said

_" I'm trapped..."_ Aichi thought

* * *

Meanwhile, Kai had quickly drove over to the construction building that had now been surrounded by a barrier as he got out and spotted Onimary.

" Onimaru?"

" Shindou-kun ran in, but I can't get in!" Onimaru exclaimed

" What?!"

Kai looked up at the building before receiving a call as he answered it.

_" Can you hear me, Kai?! I'm checking satellite images right now and I see Aichi on top of that building with the Apostles!" _Chris exclaimed

" What?!"

_" He's surrounded! They seem to want something from him!"_ Chris exclaimed

" Damn it!" Kai exclaimed as he hung the call up

He tried to look up at the building as he finally saw a familiar back.

" Aichi!"

On top of the building, Aichi heard Kai's yell as he turned back to the ground.

" Kai-kun...?"

" Look out, Aichi-san!" Chrono exclaimed just as he arrived

Aichi gasped and turned back to see Valeos lunging towards him. Getting surprised, he had taken a step too far back and slipped, falling off the building. Kai and Onimaru gasped.

" Aichi!"

As he tried to use his sword again, the mark on his neck glowed and a roar could be heard.

" What?!"

They looked up as a shadow came closer towards him, flying past the Apostles and towards the ground as Aichi grabbed onto the saddle and sat down. Another roar and a hole opened up in the barrier and they flew out of the barrier.

" No way..." Onimaru exclaimed

" Are you seeing this, Chris...?" Kai ask when his phone rang again

_" ... Y-Yeah... A real dragon is flying..."_ Chris exclaimed

Aichi smiled and looked at the dragon.

" Ama... yori...? Is that you...?" Aichi ask

The dragon, Amayori, nodded as she landed. Aichi got off and patted her.

" I can't believe it... How are you here...? You recognised me...?" Aichi ask

Amayori cuddled against his cheek as he giggled while Kai and Onimaru ran towards him.

" Aichi!"

Amayori came between them as it growled.

" It's okay... They're my friends..." Aichi assured as he patted her again

Amayori looked back at him before flying into the sky and disappeared.

" Thank you..."

His legs gave out as Kai quickly caught him before he collapsed to the ground.

" Aichi!"

" Kai-kun..."

" Onimaru, I'm bringing him back for now." Kai said

" I got it. I'll stay here to wait for backup." Onimaru said

Kai nodded and carried Aichi into his car, buckling him in the passenger's seat and going into the car to drive off. Once they arrived back in the HQ, Kai carried Aichi inside and laid him down on the bed.

" Aichi? Wake up, Aichi." Kai called

Aichi groaned as he slowly opened his eyes and looked around.

" What...?"

" You're alright now. How are you doing?" Kai ask

" ... Where's Kirito...?" Aichi ask

" Huh?"

" He was struck by some sort light... Where is he right now...?" Aichi ask

" What are you saying, Aichi?" Kai ask

" Ai... chi...?"

Aichi blinked slowly and looked around again before looking at Kai, narrowing his eyes a little before sighing.

" I see... I'm back here again..." Aichi sighed

" ... You're Alice, right?" Kai ask

" Correct... What happened here...? His body feels a little weak..." 'Alice' said

" We have an enemy here that's trying to destroy this world. Aichi tried to save someone from becoming a vessel to that deity but failed and almost got captured. But a dragon saved him... I think he called it, 'Amayori'." Kai said

" Amayori...? Amayori is in this world...?" 'Alice' ask

" You know it?" Kai ask

" Amayori is a girl...! Don't be rude...!" 'Alice' said

" S-Sorry..."

" ... She's my dragon... She hatched from an egg and became my partner..." 'Alice' said

" I see."

" I hope Kirito is safe... I guess Aichi can take care of him for awhile until our bodies switch back..." 'Alice' said

" Yeah."

Suddenly, the ground started to shake as Kai held onto 'Alice'.

" What's this...?!" 'Alice' exclaimed

" Hang onto something!" Kai exclaimed

He then got up and ran to look out of the window as he gasped, seeing a new Zeroth Dragon descending.

" A Zeroth Dragon...!" Kai exclaimed

" What is it...?!" 'Alice' exclaimed

" This is... the sixth one! That means..." Kai exclaimed

" ... Zeroth Dragons...? According to his memories, this shouldn't be happening...!" 'Alice' exclaimed

" But it's happening right now! All six Zeroth Dragons have awakened!" Kai exclaimed

A bright light engulfed the area with the Zeroth Dragon as it soon disappeared.

" Is it over...?" 'Alice' ask

" ... No. I see it... It's the Planet Cray... It's visible in the sky..." Kai said

" And...? What's the plan now...?" 'Alice' ask

As soon as he finished his sentence, Kai received a call as he answered it.

" Hello? ... I got it. Yeah, we'll start packing up and head there soon." Kai said as he hung the call up

" Who was it...?" 'Alice' ask

" It was Ibuki. We're heading to the North American Branch." Kai said

" What for...?" 'Alice' ask

" The Zeroth Dragon that Gyze still needs is being kept there. We're going to head there to protect it." Kai aaid

" I see... Then let's make haste..." 'Alice' said

" You stay there. I'll pack up our luggages and get a flight ready." Kai said

'Alice' sighed before nodding as Kai called someone else and exited the room.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Underworld, a week had passed since the final battle with Quinella as 'Aichi' had also switched bodies with Alice again. He looked out of the window of the Cathedral and back at the bed in front of him.

" Everything should be over, but why did this have to happen...? Eugeo is gone and you're suddenly in a vegetive state." 'Aichi' muttered

The door opened as he turned to see Bercouli walking in.

" Hey there, little boy. How are you adjusting?" Bercouli ask

" I'm adjusting well. Thank you for the concern, Uncle." 'Aichi' replied

" Good. Don't worry. The boy will wake up soon." Bercouli assured

" I hope so. Alice really wanted to take care of him well. I thought that I should take her place for now until we returned to our bodies." 'Aichi' said

" Yeah."

" Everything must be at peace now. The Administrator is gone and the ruling can be taken away too. Now the people in the Underworld won't have to suffer anymore." 'Aichi' said

" ... Little boy. You mean you didn't know?" Bercouli ask

" Huh?"

" We're currently readying our army by recruiting soldiers all around the Human Empire. The gates to the Dark Territory are about to collapse soon." Bercouli said

" But if the gate collapses, then..." 'Aichi' exclaimed

" The Human Empire and the Dark Territory are going into war." Bercouli said

'Aichi' gasped as his eyes slowly widened.

" No way... War?!" 'Aichi' exclaimed

* * *

And that's the end of this chapter! Thank you for reading! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and I'll see everyone in the next chapter!


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